Simple Pleasures
by Bugnuks And Crossbows
Summary: Side B The simplest things in life are right in front of you, but it takes courage to reach out to them.
1. Chapter 1

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Simple Pleasures

* * *

Chloe started the countdown, as Ken entered the room with a platter of pastries. In less than five seconds, a blur of blonde and fur came zipping past him, and snatched up a cookie, with a blissful sigh.

"Oh, Ken! They're still warm! You should have told me you were planning to bake, I would have helped!" Michael practically purred as the cookie crumbled into his ever expectant mouth.

"If by 'helped' you meant 'eaten the cookie dough' you're right! That's why I didn't call you," Ken grinned, ruffling the boy's hair playfully.

The Irish boy pouted distastefully at him, and continued nibbling the cookie. Chloe sprawled himself back across the couch with a relaxed, ever so contented noise, and tuned out the conversation between the other two KB members.

"How's Free doing?"

"Honestly?" Michael bit his lip, brows knitting in anxiety, "not well at all. He's a bit worked up, every time he does his seven card spread, he seems to draw the same cards, and it's getting him into a bit of a knot, which isn't helping his recovery any…"

"Which cards?" Ken blinked, interestedly.

"The Fool, the High Priestess, the five of cups, the two, four, eight and nine of swords. I know that he seems to link the four of swords to me, no matter what spread he's doing, but I'm not sure what anything else really means…" Michael released his lip, finishing off the cookie in his hands.

"Leave it to Snow White to let cards prevent him from getting better," Chloe commented, off-handedly.

Michael frowned in his direction. "How often is Free wrong in predicting something bad to come?"

"He predicted Aya and I coming," Ken blinked.

"I reiterate: how often is Free wrong about something bad coming?" Michael restated, grinning and ducking away from Ken's hand.

"Oi, oi! We aren't all that bad! See if I bake you cookies anymore," Ken teased, causing the boy to attach to his waist.

"Okay, okay, so that was a bad prediction!" the fluff-clad boy nodded, grabbing a couple more cookies and disappearing upstairs.

He poked his head carefully into Free's room, before nudging his way in, and sitting on the side of the bed to stroke Free's face. Narrow eyes slowly opened, to watch him in silence, and Michael smiled.

"I brought you a cookie," he said, "I know you don't like them, but they're warm… they're better when they're warm. Some things just are."

Free gave him a small smile, and allowed Michael to feed him one of Ken's cookies, simply to keep the boy appeased. He watched as Michael moved to open the curtain, allowing a warm wash of sunlight to dance through his blonde hair, and to light Michael with a near angelic beauty.

"Are you well?" the white haired man asked, softly.

"Yes, I'm much better now that you're awake," Michael smiled a bit brighter, moving to sit on his bed again. "The others don't believe me when I say we have conversations, and when you sleep so often, and so long… Sometimes I start to believe that you're as quiet as they say, too… It makes me miss you."

Free reached out a hand to lightly place it over Michael's much smaller one, "There's no reason for you to miss me, little one, I'll always be here with you, whether I am asleep or not." Michael nodded a little, pulling off his fluffy coat.

It was midwinter, now, making flowers a nearly dead job to hold, which made it lucky for them that it was simply a cover. Snow adorned the sidewalks early that morning, but the busy traffic of London destroyed any trace of it by six am. But no traffic could dismiss the cold that penetrated the air, and left Michael frozen to the core earlier that morning when he made a run to the corner store to pick up some milk and medicine.

Water ran down the windows in glistening beads, the few remnants of the snow that had fallen earlier, though they were ignored by all but Michael, who paused to watch, and attempt to predict their ending points for a moment, before pulling out Free's prescription.

"You should take your pills before it gets too late," the Irish boy stated, offering a couple to the older man, who took them with another of the soft smiles he saved for Michael. He was offered a glass of water, as well, which he took gratefully, as he sat up to take his pills.

"Michael," Free started, then paused a little, glancing to one side at the cards on his bedside table.

"Yes?" the boy responded, finishing putting the lid on the pill bottle.

"I want you to be careful around me, from here on out, okay?" Free glanced at him. "No more heroics, like last time… I could have killed you. I could have killed you all."

Michael looked away, to the hardwood floors of Free's bedroom. "Promise me, Michael. Please."

"You protect me, Free, I don't need to be careful around you. I trust you. I'd trust you with anything, but my life above all else."

There was quiet between them for a moment, and Free reached to draw a card from his deck – to draw the four of swords. "It's not your life that I'm worried about taking, or damaging," Free said softly.

Michael looked up at him. "Don't be stupid," he shook his head, "you know that my heart is yours to do with as you please. Take or damage it all you like, it's still yours."

Free merely sighed, and set the card back on the top of the deck, laying himself down again. Blue-green eyes watched him sadly for a moment, before Michael lay himself down against Free. "Don't pull away from me, Free… I need you. I'll always need you."

The white haired man merely hugged Michael close. What the boy had yet to realize was that he was already putting the card's prediction into play.

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	2. Chapter 2

Simple Pleasures 2

_Bugnuks and Crossbows_

* * *

Winter came and went with strange speed, and the springtime rush of flowers blew all thoughts to the back of Michael's mind. He watched with wistful bliss as Valentines Day approached, and multitudes of young boys, and older men arrived to purchase large bouquets of roses for their loved ones. It was a peculiar sort of tradition to him; even the gifting of chocolates which he so enjoyed became too cliché for this holiday. Of course, Free knew this. 

This was why Michael's body grew increasingly more fidgety as the day progressed – Valentines tradition for Free and he was always a surprise, something he waited for with more desire than a ten year old waited for Christmas.

Chloe had made plans already, with a young girl whom he'd been courting the past two weeks, and Yuki had protested for hours on the phone with another young lady who seemed to desperately want him to join her for a trip. Eventually he was forced to consent. Even Ran had made plans, though his weren't so much romantic as trying to cheer Kurumi up from her recent break-up.

Normally Ken would have been on hand immediately to help cheer the girl, but instead it seemed that he had made no plans whatsoever. Seemed being the key word. When questioned about it, Ran implied that Ken did, indeed, have plans, plans which involved a long night, and a long distance call. This was all baffling to the Irish boy, who had made a note in his day planner to harass Ken about it at a later date.

In the mean time, he finished his last bouquet of roses, wincing at the spot on his finger from which a thorn had drawn blood, and set the bouquet on the counter for Yuki, who was this shift's the cashier, to deal with.

He pulled off his apron, setting it aside, before heading upstairs for a quick shower, growing increasingly excited. Climbing into the shower, Michael quickly washed, wasting no time idling away, and climbed right back out again, towelling himself off, and disappearing to his room to get dressed.

He felt almost like a fussy woman as he searched through his wardrobe. For some reason, nothing seemed appropriate for their third Valentine's Day celebration. As he stood, staring at the clothing combinations on his bed, a soft knock came at the door and Free slipped in.

Michael looked towards him, blinking, and carefully adjusting his housecoat before turning to face his closest friend. Free wore a small frown, which was replaced by amusement for a brief moment when he noticed Michael's disaster. It occurred to the blonde that he should, perhaps, be embarrassed to be caught in such a state – his clothing, or lack there-of, both being considerations – but it was quickly dismissed as he approached Free.

"What's wrong?" he questioned, softly.

"We won't be celebrating anything, tonight," Free stated, beginning to hang Michael's clothing back in the wardrobe. The blonde blinked, before lightly touching Free's wrist.

"Won't be celebrating? Why not?"

"None of us will. Mihirogi is on her way." He knew Michael's look had dropped considerably and didn't turn to look. He couldn't bear to look at his young ward knowing what was in store that night.

Michael released his wrist, and turned away. "I see," he said, turning to grab his mission outfit from the compartment under his bed. "Have you told the others?"

Free shook his head, though the blonde wasn't looking to see. "I'll do that now," he said softly, turning to watch the boy.

While Michael shuffled to get his things out from under the bed, his gaze turned to Michael's side table, and the florally adorned photograph sitting there.

Michael had worked so hard to get him to smile for that photograph, and failed so miserably that he managed to cause Free's laughter simply in his continued idiocy. It was one of his cherished memories, and yet at this moment it felt so infinitely sad that he couldn't help but turn away.

Light brown eyes watched him as he exited, and the door closed with a heartbreaking, yet quiet, thud. He wondered if the sound truly came from the door, or if it came instead from inside of him, where that same feeling came to fruition.

* * *

"_And they built stonehenge, one of the biggest henges in the world. No one's built a henge like that ever since… no one even knows what the fuck a henge is. Before Stonehenge there was strawhenge and woodhenge, but a bug bad wolf came and blew them down, and three little piggies were relocated to the project……_" 

Michael stared out the window. Normally Eddie Izzard was a somewhat amusing pastime for him, but right now, even the comedian couldn't brighten the blonde's mood. A storm was raging outside, and he felt that it was a wonder that Ran could keep the car on the road, but that thought was soon cast aside, as all thoughts before it had been.

Something just felt wrong about this mission. It wasn't the mission itself that worried him, but the way that Free had been acting since he showed up in his room earlier that day. He pressed his forehead against the window, closing his eyes.

All plans had been cancelled, all dates put on hold, all surprises delayed… And Free wouldn't talk to him. He wouldn't talk to _any_ of them about his readings, but normally he would at least give Michael hints to puzzle out. There was none of that, this mission, which led Michael to believe that Free planned to do something uncharacteristically stupid.

That was what was wrong with this mission. There was a lack of communication that bit at his mind, making his heart clench. He glanced to the front seat of the car, where Ken sat with a big grin on his face, listening to the comedian go on about Druids and henges, completely unshaken by the feeling pooling in Michael's gut.

He glanced to Ran, next, who focused intently on his driving, despite Ken's breaks into roaring laughter. He had such troubles reading the redhead – it felt strange. The others liked to joke at how he could nearly read Free's mind, and yet couldn't fathom what was going on behind those violet eyes.

He sighed softly, then glanced out the back window, through the rain-streaked glass towards the headlights behind him, where he knew Chloe would be complaining at his loss of a date, and where Yuki would be wiping his brow at the close call.

But as much as he tried, he couldn't understand what might be going on in his beloved's mind. A tear dripped down his cheek, and he quickly brushed it away as Ran pulled to the side of the road, and shut the car off. A large building loomed to their left, as Ran and Ken stepped out of the car. Michael pushed Ken's seat forward, and stepped out behind them, not casting so much as a glance back as the car behind them pulled up.

He glanced to Ran, then nodded, and he and Ken disappeared into the building. The mission itself was simple: Find and retrieve all experiment data. Yuki would be manning the computers, but before the boy set a foot in the building, Michael was to shut down all cameras, with Ken as his backup.

Free would accompany Yuki, while Chloe and Ran eliminated the leaders, and key members of this mob. This was only one in a series of groups which they hoped, one day, would lead to the fall of the Mutnes gang – a group who currently dominated the European underground.

Ken darted ahead through the hallway, scarf trailing rather dramatically behind him. Michael checked his belt for the small bag there, and easily attached a magnet to the camera, effectively disabling it.

They progressed down the hallway with ease, Ken slashing and hacking through any who stood in their way, and Michael adeptly placing magnets in a key location on each camera they passed.

Sweat mixed with the intoxicating scent of blood, and Ken's brain began to focus in on the numbing pleasure of the hunt, as each passing moment brought down another, another, and another.

Michael carefully danced around trails of blood left behind by Ken, before everything started to fog up. Ahead of him a pale mist obstructed his view of Ken, and there was the noise of something soft, but heavy, hitting the floor. Alarmed, Michael ran forward.

* * *

Free cast a glance at the young American boy at the computer, his hands dashing with stunning prowess across the keyboard. He fiddled idly with a card he'd drawn from his deck, apprehensive to so much as glance at the small decorated piece of cardboard, which danced through his hands with all the grace of a fire. 

Finally, he cast his eyes down to the card, and closed his eyes. The Tower. It was done.

"Yuki. Time to go."

* * *

_A/N: The clip is copyright to Eddie Izzard. A wonderful British comedian. And I tried to mention this last chapter, but FF.N wouldn't accept it: This fanfiction is dedicated to my wonderful friend, Lady Ezri. I hope you're enjoying it, Leader-san!_


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